Thursday, 28 June 2012

This is the post from Funcom that I have been waiting to read since I heard about one server technology. I have included a few snippets below, but go and read the post.

So what does it mean that The Secret World is based on a single server. It boils down to that there are no boundaries between you and anyone else playing the game. You can play with anyone you want!

You can finally play with your buddies in the US, or your family in Europe, without worrying about creating a new account bound to that region.

Being on a single server means you, with your home dimension which may be Kobold, can team up with your buddy in the Huldra dimension and sign up for a match, and fight side by side. It also means that all matchmaking will be between all dimensions, so queues will be very short.

In the Secret World you are not special. You are not the saviour of mankind, you are a drone in an army. An ant part of a factional mass of ants, driving back the filth. Usually with MMO's (with the exception of Eve Online) you are the same. An ant in a copy of lots of worlds being you, in your small little world/server.

As a player in the Secret World you are more like a special little bee, a bee with a unique name in the world, you have the potential to be 'the' special little bee. As you get to play with everyone.

You can be that tank known by everyone, who could hold aggro of the entire server if you wanted too. You could be 'the' player who always has the new fashionable build. Before it is even in fashion. You could be part of 'the' group that is feared world wide in battle grounds, players disconnect from the internet and throw their keyboards out the window when they see your name role up in Stonehenge. Your cabal can be known across the seas for world firsts.

Not only this, but the Secret World is not a game geared towards many characters. The skill system means your character can evolve to cover all of the roles within the game, so you could potentially play the same character throughout the entire life time of the game.

This may all sound somewhat dramatic, but, like in Eve, there is the potential to be that special little bee known, maybe even feared, by the entire population of the game. Can you tell I am excited? Now all we need is our own Eve-fest so we can visit the hive.

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Early access is within touching distance and if you are anything like me you are desperatly looking around the web for things to read about 'The Secret World'.
So here is a list of blog's I have found so far.

Monday, 25 June 2012

Beta weekend 4 has come and gone and we are less than a week from early access. I pre-ordered the game but this weekend was the tilting board helping me to decide if I start to grab the money together for a life time sub.

I was always very PvE focussed in MMO's until I wet my whistle in ‘EvE Online’ and small ship guerrilla warfare jumping from gate to gate.

Then I waited for ‘Age of Conan’ which promised PvP with siege warfare and battle formations. Early on it ended up being mainly PvE, though I loved the lore and combat system. I waited for the PvP patch which just hit as ‘Warhammer Online’ released.

War completely sucked me in with accessible PvP and RvR. Numerous times it was called a WoW clone, but for me at its core it was a different animal from WoW.

I didn't spend my time running quests and raids. As soon as I created an alt I was running PvP scenarios then after level 10 I spent most of my time in the RvR zones. I’d probably be still playing War if they would have kept funding it and gave us a paid expansion.

So how ‘The Secret World’ handles their PvP is a big selling point for me. I am reserving judgment on their decision not to have persistent war zones from earlier in the game and just having battle grounds and the fight club.

Over the weekend I had a longer play session on Friday and a few short stints on Saturday and Sunday.

I wanted to try the battlegrounds first so wasted hour and a half in queues before I switched to the persistent PvP in ‘The Fusang Project’. After about 10 minutes I was in.

It took me a while to find out what I had to do. But once I found the crowds the game started to flow. A few large groups floated around the zone and mini skirmish’s happened all around the center of the map.

I can only guess at numbers but the horizon was filled with friends and enemies and the game rarely lagged. While I was me running at maxed graphics and running FRAPS.

The map seemed well designed with choke points and multiple levels of terrain. All this and the views were stunning and varied, from the industrial landscapes to picturesque gardens. Multiple times I found myself just looking about the scenery when I should have been fighting.

For PvP the abilities fired when I wanted them to and the movement in combat as well as the dodging made it fluid. 1 on 1 combat wasn't over to quickly and I can see some pretty cool prolonged fights on the way.

The time I spent in ‘The Fusang Project’ was enjoyable and running with a cabal will be a lot of fun. If I had any suggestions I’d like to see at least 2 more of these zones and for them to be somehow linked.

I did not get enough time in battlegrounds. This left me with one requirement. Information while queuing. I would like to see more information on the amount of people in a queue for each battleground.

I am prepared to wait in a queue if I know the reason for the wait. Estimated time to queue or even just high/med/low levels by faction waiting in line would be enough.

So I remain on the PvP fence and guess I'll wait to see how the first month goes before I commit to a life time subscription.